Theological Theme: The Holy Spirit illuminates the meaning of God the Father’s Word so that we can understand, trust, and obey God. “We are learning and we will hear in this message that God- Father, Son, and Spirit lovesUS and He wants to relate to us because God is himself a relationship….God speaks his love and acceptance over us. He is drawing near to relate with us.” – tjbrassell

Christ Connection: As a prophet to Israel, Samuel listened to God and used God’s words to tell the people what God is like. John 1:1 says that Jesus is the Word, sent by God to show the world what God is like. “In our day- this Word of God is all pointing to The Word- God the Son – becoming a fleshly human being and showing up as the Word in living flesh, so that anything we are misinterpreting about what God has to say will no longer be so misinterpreted……You should look for God’s living Word – Jesus- these days. If you’re going to know yourself and find your identity, you have to look outside yourself, and you’re going to have to look to Jesus Christ- The living Word”-tjbrassell

Missional Application: God through the Holy Spirit, calls us to be receptive to whatever He may have to say to us and then deliver the truth of God’s Word to others. “The first service one owes to others in a community involves listening to them. Just as our love for God begins with listening to God’s Word, the beginning of love for others is learning to listen to them. God’s love for us is shown by the fact that God not only gives God’s Word but also lends us God’s ear.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer